GDT: Blackhawks @ Sens. 7:30 PM EST

No Tkachuk, no problem.

Hawks roll into town to play the undefeated Ottawa Senators.

- Mtl took Toronto to OT
- Van City upset Calgary
- Ducks upset Sharks
- Caps smash Bruins

Lots of parity in this league. No reason Ottawa can't take two points from the Hawks tonight.

Anderson in nets. Line combos from yesterday's practice

Dzingel-Duchene-Ryan
Smith-White-Stone
Formenton-Tierney-Boedker
Paajarvi-Pyatt-McCormick

Chabot-Wideman
Boro-Ceci
Lajoie-De Melo

Like to see what white can do with stone on that line

DeMelo got a stick in the face in the morning skate and Harpur may have to take his place tonight.

Sounds like DeMelo is fine and will play tonight.

Senators Kryptonite AKA Cam Ward is starting for Chicago tonight.

Kryptonite has a half life. Plus it wasn't Ward so much as it was the air in Carolina.

This should be a good measuring stick for the first quarter of the season. Young guys in the line-up, Chicago isn’t as bad as many are saying but they ain’t amongst the best either. Let’s see where we fall.

I personally come with very low expectations. Just looking to see the kids play.

Lajoie looking really good tonight

Hockeyhero22000 wrote:Lajoie looking really good tonight

So far he looks like a hell of a steal. That goal was a beauty.

Good game but that OT was messy.

Boedker and Formenton really matching well together too. Pretty sloppy 3rd and overtime. Shots were 15-4 in the third for chicago

Holy crap White was good. Felt like the only guy consistently winning faceoffs, aggressive on the puck. Man...

The Sens appeared to stop forechecking in the second half of that game. Tkachuk will really add to that element.

Unfortunate outcome but otherwise a very enjoyable game.

Andy should have had one of those, but 40 shots on goal is too many.

It was a weird game. was bad to start and then became very good. We scored all our goals in the 1st and then sat back a little, but also Ward was very good (stopping Boedker on the PP from the doorstep and Dzingel on a breakaway come to mind).

The D was a mixed bag, but the young guys were encouraging. I couldn't help but laugh on the sequence that lead to Chicago's tying goal in the 3rd. Boro tries to get the puck up the boards, Chicago keeps it in. A bouncing puck comes to Ceci, who whiffs on it, and Chicago gets it behind the net. Boro goes to chase the guy behind the net, Chicago passes it through him to an open guy in the slot who buries it. And these are our two "veterans" on the blue line.

Anyway, pretty good for the first game all in all! It was great to see Lajoie play well and actually show that the Sens' hockey ops department does know what it's doing some of the time.

Formenton had some great chances, Boedker hit two posts, Stone missed a good chance or two, Andy let in some weak goals. Should have been a win but not a bad end result.

I am hopeful Ceci is traded at the deadline. I don't think Jaros can be any worse. There was a replay that showed Ceci take a shot from the blueline directly at Ward's chest. He had two Sens players wide open at either side of the net for a tap-in. He has zero hockey IQ.

As for Boro it is hard to say what they do with him. Chabot and Lajoie appear to be going nowhere and Wolanin is NHL ready. That should be our left side. Wideman played well, and De Melo did his job. Maybe down the road they have Boro on his off-wing but I just don't see how they can fit all these guys in.

Chabot-Wideman
Wolanin-Jaros
Lajoie-Boro

Well, by giving Boro the part time "A", I assume he'll be in the lineup most of the year.

There's nothing wrong with Wolanin and Jaros spending a bunch of time in Belleville. Belleville should be good this year, too, so a winning atmosphere will be a bonus. They'll each get some NHL time due to to injuries, but again, I'm fine with them getting a bunch of AHL time.